Learn about assistive technology for people with reading disabilities, dyslexia, low vision, blindness and other disabilities that make reading, writing, and other tasks difficult. Written by someone who uses assistive technology to read and write.

Pages

Monday, June 11, 2012

Apple Announces iOS 6 With New Accessibility Features

Today, Apple announced iOS 6 a new update for its mobile devices. Among other new features is enhancements to Siri and new accessibility features. Click here to learn more about Siri. With iOS 6, Siri will be able to answer even more of your questions. Siri is also making its way to The New iPad. Another new feature is called Guided Access. Guided Access is designed to help students with Autism and related disabilities stay on task. It works by allowing a teacher or parent to control what control a kid can have. For example, you can turn off access to the home button to ensure that the child stays on task. Apple says the following about Guided Access,

"iOS 6 comes with even more features to make it easier for people with vision, hearing, learning, and mobility disabilities to get the most from their iOS devices. Guided Access helps students with disabilities such as autism remain on task and focused on content. It allows a parent, teacher, or administrator to limit an iOS device to one app by disabling the Home button, as well as restrict touch input on certain areas of the screen. VoiceOver, the revolutionary screen reader for blind and low-vision users, is now integrated with Maps, AssistiveTouch, and Zoom. And Apple is working with top manufacturers to introduce Made for iPhone hearing aids that will deliver a power-efficient, high-quality digital audio experience."

Another great change is word by word highlighting for Speak Selection. iOS 6 will allow the iPhone to work better with hearing aids. Also included are enhancements to VoiceOver including VoiceOver compatibility with zoom, assistive touch, and maps. iOS 6 will be available this fall as a free update.

4 comments:

With the iO6 coming out there are many new and exciting features and for someone that has been researching hearing aids for my mother who is dealing with hearing loss it is great to see that they are entertaining the idea of getting into the hearing aid business. However, this idea isin't innovative and I found this out by doing my research. There is a company called Audiotoniq. They plan on releasing a hearing aid that can be customized via bluetooth and smart phone application. I'm real curious to see how this plays out with both.

Interesting blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog shine.Please let me know where you got your design.Thanks a lot